Should I buy a pony bottle?

[grantwiscour]

I agree with Dive Bug. Keep diving and gain more experience before adding too much task-loading. Become a great buddy and practice your skills. The pony/backup is a great tool just don't let the tools/gadgets take away from your focus on safety and fun.

I do like the Zeagle Pony setup although it is only 6cf. I have eyed it on ST's website for some time. Zeagle 6 cf Pony Bottle System discounts on sale Zeagle

BTW Matt, good to have you back on the SB. Everybody brings a piece of themselves to SB and that's what makes it a community.

 

[mathauck0814]

We've shown spare air to be insufficient for bail out enough, haven't we?

In the water tanks aren't heavy. Carry enough bail out to actually bail out. Don't faff around with insufficient supplies.

 

[Peter_C]

Many of the instances I have seen of people dying while diving seem to be directly related to health issues, not air supply issues. They call them a drowning, but a heart attack, etc. underwater is the actual cause of them drowning.

A good buddy, and buddy skills, would be at the top of my list when diving, not a pony.

FWIW I dive doubles when I want redundancy.

 

[k ellis]

We've shown spare air to be insufficient for bail out enough, haven't we?

In the water tanks aren't heavy. Carry enough bail out to actually bail out. Don't faff around with insufficient supplies.

Very True indeed. The tanks do not way very much in the water but they do create drag the more mass they have (Depending on how they are arranged)

for recreational I find a 40 way too much but a 13 is just about perfect. Its enough to get you to the surface from typical recreational dives but as I said earlier this depends on how calm one remains and if he/she can remain perfectly calm and ones sac rate under those conditions. A typical 100 lb female who is experienced in the water for example has a much better sac rate then a 300 lb male experienced diver in most cases. (Exceptions do apply understandibly)

 

[Captain12Pk]

My thoughts on the topic are these:
1. First, I commend you on thinking through the problem.

2. I would normally suggest an al40 for someone in your situation. But if you are looking for something you can use at home and abroad, you may want to consider an al80. I know it sounds like a huge tank, but we dive with multiple stage/deco bottles slung quite regularly. In the water you really wont hardly even know it's there. But one of the real benefits is that you don't travel with it. You just bring your reg. and your stage rigging and slap it on a rental bottle when you get to your destination.

Whatever you choose, be sure you know how to deal with it. Practice, practice, practice. Would really suck to need to go to it and find out it was empty due to an undetected leak.

Happy diving...
K

 

[Hawkwood]

...Everybody brings a piece of themselves to SB and that's what makes it a community.

Well said.

 

[redacted]

We've shown spare air to be insufficient for bail out enough, haven't we?

In the water tanks aren't heavy. Carry enough bail out to actually bail out. Don't faff around with insufficient supplies.

I don't believe we have shown that. We have pretty much agreed that a spare are is not usually going to allow an OOA diver to conduct a normal ascent on that redundant source of gas. If you have to perform a CESA, a spare air can provide a very helpful cushion in performing that task. And it packs for air travel quite easily. A 13 cf pony pushes your luggage weight limits. A 19 may push it real hard. A larger pony probably puts you into9 excess baggage charges. Fills need not be a problem with 2 regulators and a $5 adapter. May destination ops with a compressor will fill it with no concern about VIS. anybody ever seen a VIS sticker on a Cozumel tank?

 

[Teller]

Buy a stage kit for an AL80. Then all you have to pack is the stage kit and grab an extra 80 when you get to your location. AL80 gives plenty of redundant gas and is easy to manage while diving.

 

[skankpile]

Unless you plan on using the 40 for bailout, why not try sidemount and see if you like it? You can sidemount 80's anywhere in the world. If you decide to go tech you'll have doubles on your back and be sidemounting anyways whether you are OC or CCR.

For overhead on a single you'll need at minum an h-valve and bailout.. so in the end if you really want a bailout secondary go sidemount or get a 40cf at the smallest so you can use it for something besides drysuit inflation IMO.

 

[ajtoady]

I went with a 30 cu ft tank. I look at it as a backup, bailout and added gas option. I side sling it like a stage bottle and have it filled with 32% nitrox. I will take my back tank (117 cu ft) down to about 600-800 psi and then switch to my pony/backup. This leaves me about 20 cu ft in reserve. Usually by this time I am at less then 50 ft and nearing the end of the dive. I figure a little extra O2 during the safety stop can't hurt. The one thing I will recommend is put a quality first and second on your pony. I picked up a great deal on a lightly used Hog D1/CWD kit first and second and gotta say that my next regs will more than likely come from Jim Lapenta here on the board. That Hog is like "OMG" Sweet breathing.